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Unit information: Technology, Innovation, Business, and Society (TIBS) in 2021/22

Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.

Unit name Technology, Innovation, Business, and Society (TIBS)
Unit code EMATM0049
Credit points 20
Level of study M/7
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Professor. Dave Cliff
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

School/department School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology
Faculty Faculty of Engineering

Description including Unit Aims

This unit aims to give students a broad grounding in the wider commercial, economic, and social contexts and effects of technology innovation, with a focus on the digital, data-centric, and software-intensive technologies that are emphasised at TQEC. The course will cover responsible innovation and open innovation: combining ideas from internal and external stakeholders to advance the useful development of new technology. Students on this unit will also develop a grounding in the legal, managerial and financial aspects of technology innovation for knowledge transfer and wealth creation. It will consider, in particular, the legal, ethical and technical issues involved in the use of personal data, with reference to frameworks such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and organisations such as the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. For balance, students on this unit also engage with literature that is questioning or critical of the social and societal effects of new technologies in general, and digital/data-centric technologies in particular (such as artificial intelligence, advanced automation, and citizen surveillance).

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to

  1. Explain the rationale for and practice of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and the ethical application of technology.
  2. Identify the effects of bias and take actions to mitigate that bias.
  3. Define the ethical and legal issues when using personal data and their influence of good data science and engineering practice.
  4. Choose appropriately among the different classes of legally protectable intellectual property (IP), on the basis of their strengths and their weaknesses, both legally and economically, with respect to technology innovation.

Demonstrate an understanding of the strategic business drivers for technology research innovation, and the various alternative ways in which innovation can be incentivised, rewarded, and commercialised, by writing coherently and concisely on such topics.

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including lectures, practical activities and self-directed exercises.

Assessment Information

Coursework (100%).

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EMATM0049).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.

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